As you might recall, back in March we reported that Delta Airlines was planning on upgrading the phones used by their flight attendants to the Nokia Lumia 1520. This is a huge step up from the Nokia Lumia 820 not only in terms of hardware, but in terms of size as well especially since the Lumia 1520 sports a whopping 6-inch display.

According to Delta Airlines’ press release, they will be equipping more than 20,000 of their flight attendants with the Lumia 1520 devices and are expected to begin the rollout later this fall. The handsets will serve multiple purposes: it will be able to be used as an on-board manual for the flight attendants, an in-flight sales device, and in the future can also be used as a more personalized in-flight customer service experience.

In fact just like how tablets are used to replace flight bags that contain manuals used by pilots, the upgrade to a digital on-board manual by flight attendants is expected to save Delta Airlines more than $1 million in reducing fuel and printing costs. Apparently each on-board manual weighs about five pounds and are expected to be brought on board by every flight attendant, which we guess adds up to quite a lot.

According to Joanne Smith, senior vice president – In-Flight Service, “Delta continues to invest in the latest tools and resources for our flight attendants to provide exceptional service to our 165 million annual customers. These state-of-the-art devices represent yet another example of the many technology innovations we’re developing, and will be essential as Delta continues to further personalize the on board experience.”